Slow Recovery - October 29, 2002 12:32 AM
We're getting things built back up. As you've probably noticed, bookmarks are gone and unercoverable at this point. Rides are gone, but recoverable. Some of the FAQ and TECH items are back, but maybe not as up to date as they were before. If anyone works in hard disk drive recovery, or know a place where we can get it done for a reasonable rate, please e-mail me @ damonz@twinturbo.net. 1 disk is dead, the other that failed will still spin up, so there's hope for it... they're part of a RAID5 arrangement, so if we can get 1 or the other, we can probably get ALL our data recovered and go about our business (albiet with a different backup schema Greg and I drew up during our trip) ASAP.
We're also very close to going CoLo, which means more bandwidth (speed) because we'll be off this small DSL line. So that's looking up for us right now. The tt.NET store should be making a return soon, although like everything else ancillary, it's in line after getting things back in shape around here.
In the meantime, if you can think of a cool contest (besides 'I rule, give it to me') for some Japanese Z goodies, let us know! We need to unload the goody bag.
Written by Dallas DamonZ
Servers are down. Temporary Patch for now >> - October 16, 2002 04:02 PM
On the morning of 10/15/02, our primary web server crashed for some reason. It is definitely a disk access issue, but what we are trying to figure out is whether our RAID controller went bad or whether some of our disks actually crashed. Hopefully the former.
This problem affected TwinTurbo.NET, 350zforum.com, ttzd.com, zcluboftexas.org, zcca.org, and zcluboftexas.org which are all hosted on our server.
Damon and I managed to hax0r together enough Frankenstein pieces from our own systems to move tt.NET to the database server and get it running from there, which is what you are utilizing now.
To do this, we had to move newer code up that we had not yet released, so you are getting some new features now that we were not planning to push out so soon.
First off, search is modified and is now accurate and up to date. It is utilizing a totally new search engine than it used to. Click on Search, then click the little question mark icon to get help on all the different ways you can search now. The current method does have one problem. If you include words that the engine 'ignores' it will not return anything, which is unfortunate. Usually common English words and/or single letter words will cause this. If you get it, just remove those items and search again. I do have a fix for this (which is to index EVERYTHING) but it hasn't been implemented yet.
Also, you'll notice that you were dumped on the News page right away. We now flag accounts so whenever a new NEWS item is added, you will be redirected the first time you hit the site again so you can see it.
Damon and I are headed to Japan tomorrow morning for 10 days so this couldn't have come at a worse time. Therefore, this solution will have to suffice for the time being. Since this is a cobbled together patch right now, you will notice a lot of things don't work (like missing pages, etc.) This will definitely occur on 'DOCS', 'TECH', 'LINKS', 'RIDES', and 'CHAT' until we can get our original drives up and running again. However, the forums are fully functional.
Also, because we were in the middle of building some new stuff, this 'patch' is hardwired to our original theme graphics. If you were in boss mode, etc. you'll just have to live with it for now as we are overriding you since those themes have been broken in the new stuff.
Sorry for the troubles and we will be back to full speed as soon as we can be when we return. If Steve gets everything up and running and the drives are OK, he will switch back to the 'live' system which will re-enable all the broken stuff, but will take away the new features until we can get back.
Written by Greg (Dallas)
News Item - March 27, 2002 12:04 AM
Planning for the 2002 National Convention tt.NET banquet is moving along. We rented a space this week & are proceeding to get through other details now that we know what we've got to work with. We'll start taking ticket orders in May. If you're interested in attending, read the next News article for more details. Should definitely be a *good* time. Please let us know if you're planning on being there so we can make room for you.
We're also working on getting some new hardware for the site now. In a few very short months, tt.NET's younger sibling, 350Zforum.com will take off and we need more HP to power both sites, or tt.NET is going to collapse. If you haven't noticed, the server seems to come and go lately. Our connectivity sucks, we get about 90% quality of service... definitely not good since it comes in blocks. We're testing a new circuit starting this weekend, so hopefully we can get that straightened out as well. BTW, if you happen to have a Seagate st19171WC - SCA interface drive you'd like to donate for the site's well being, e-mail me please! I need a third one to complete a RAID since genic has so graciously donated the other 2 for our use. Or if you just want to throw money at us to help buy new gear, there's a donation box on Store.TwinTurbo.NET at the bottom. One of these days we'll get out of the red.
Thanks!
News Item - February 27, 2002 07:39 PM
Survey is up for Zers coming to the national convention. We're looking for a location in SA for the dinner now, the convention hotel is looking like it's not going to work out for us.
News Item - February 13, 2002 10:41 PM
Making some headway on the 2002 convention get together. This is what the committee I've put together is discussing right now: Putting on a banquet dinner Wed, June 19th after the car show. We're working out per person costs, etc for BBQ dinner, and some goodies. We're working on having some speakers, some awards, some sponsor booths, and a bar (yes, you can buy your favorite admins a beer or 3). Most of this is still tentative until we start getting some details, first being a head count of people that are *seriously* going to be there. I'll have a survey up in a bit. We will be pre-selling tickets for the event. Right now the goodies list consists of a personalized ID laminate & lanyard and a tt.NET 2002 Z Convention T-shirt (not white this time), maybe some other little stuff, depends on what sponsors might want to throw out there. This will be a good time, I promise that. Anyone that's interested in helping out here in TX, particularly in S.A., get in contact with me please so I can get you on the mail list! Stay tuned for more details...
News Item - January 29, 2002 07:36 PM
Lots of things to cover in the new year. I'm unemployed right now, so I'm spending some time in the background cleaning things up no the site & prepping 350Zforum.com for some real use this year.
1. RIDES: These people have had RIDES pages waiting to be started for who knows how long (by member number):
12633 142 15330 15631 16239 17564 17699 17720 18031 18138 18209 18230 1832 18735 18936 19022 19792 1994 20352 20820 21162 22979 234 2525 25446 26197 26312 26352 26358 26380 29094 29575 30908 31321 34755 35812 37142 38143 38707 3894 40086 586 7015
So that's over forty RIDES pages that are waiting...
2. Buzz has been helping with FAQ/TECH items, unfortunately his computer crashed hard & he's having to redo a lot of work. If he asks for pictures or info again, please re-send so we can try and get caught up on this.
3. I'm starting to plan out what we're going to do for the national convention this year. I'll be assembling a committee to handle planning. If you want to volunteer (and are in the San Antonio/TX area), send me mail please. Plan on at least a dinner meet on Wednesday, June 19th (after the car show)... that's what we're going to start with if we can pull this together. There will be some surveys shortly so we can get things set up.
4. Once again, the static to content ratio is getting out of control. E-mail truly is overrated & chat needs to go to chat/IM/ICQ or just not be posted. I'm getting tired of sounding like a bitchy old schoolteacher telling everyone to shut up when you've got nothing to say all the time... it's a drag already. Moderators are being asked to start trimming the 'fat' out of threads.
5. 'Drunk' and other substance induced posts will be deleted ASAP, as will any posts with discussion about whatever controlled substance. Do I really need to explain this? This is a car forum, think about it (if you're capable). Repeated stupidity on your part will get you kicked from the site.
6. We'll be taking on new moderators soon, a lot of our current staff has moved on etc. and we need to be playing full strength with springtime right around the corner.
News Item - November 17, 2001 04:29 PM
Who is going to the National Z convention in 2002? I'm going because I'm hosting the Japanese Ultimate Z Club members that are coming over. I was just looking at the convention schedule and realized this thing is lame. Like 1 event a day for 6 flipping days... *sigh* it's June 17th-22nd. Why can't this be a 4 day event or less? The Japanese convention in October was 2 days. 2 very good days. Compact and efficient. OK, granted it was the first year for it, but I just don't see a point in 6 days worth of emptiness. OK, rant=off. Instead of just complaining about it, I want to do something to fix it for us at least! I'm proposing a tt.NET dinner/party/demo of genic's turbo beer bong on Wednesday night the 19th. It's a freshly hatched idea, but I'm sure we can string something together. My biggest problem is I'm not in San Antonio, or overly familiar with the layout of the convention there. So I'm not sure what's available to us... maybe a ballroom at the hotel, maybe go somewhere else, I don't know. What I do know is I want to shake a lot of member's hands in San Antonio and show the Japanese how we do things on tt.NET and this would be the best way to do it! I want to assemble a convention task force to handle the arrangements. Anyone interested in helping put this together, particularly from the SA area, send me e-mail please!
News Item - November 06, 2001 11:35 AM
Our 5(M)illionth hit on the site! Another milestone passed in rapid pace. Our winner in the contest to be # 5,000,000 was won by jbz32. Congrats Josh, we'll be in contact soon!!
Nov 06, 2001 11:31 a 4999995 Bob in Oz Nov 06, 2001 11:31 a 4999996 SpeedyZX Nov 06, 2001 11:31 a 4999997 SpeedyZX Nov 06, 2001 11:31 a 4999998 slickB Nov 06, 2001 11:31 a 4999999 Steven (TN) Nov 06, 2001 11:31 a 5000000 jbz32!!!!! Nov 06, 2001 11:31 a 5000001 slickB Nov 06, 2001 11:31 a 5000002 Hungryjack Nov 06, 2001 11:31 a 5000003 UNKNOWN NEWBIE! Hasn't logged on before!!! Nov 06, 2001 11:31 a 5000004 slickB
News Item - September 12, 2001 02:29 PM
In light of the tragic events on 9/11/01, we have decided to open up donations for the Red Cross to be submitted on behalf of the membership of TwinTurbo.NET. We have placed a specific donation item on the store page for your contribution. All proceeds will be forwarded to the Red Cross at a date to be determined, along with a list of names of all the donors.
A crisis like this makes us all stop and take a moment to consider what is really important in each of our lives. While we are joined by the common love of a specific vehicle and that camaraderie has allowed us to create our own special community, we feel that it is time to utilize the community for a greater good. Please join with us and help us support the rescue and rebuilding efforts that have affected so many lives by supporting the Red Cross through this forum.
Thanks for your support and may your God bless each of you and the United States in this time of mourning.
News Item - August 01, 2001 07:24 PM
Most of us know Logik on a more personal level then other members. He's been around these parts for a long time now, and during that time spent here with him, we've come to know about his mother's battle with multiple sclerosis. Sadly, she passed away over the weekend. Alex, Greg & I had discussions about what we might do in memory of her from his friends on the forum. We think the most fitting thing to do is exactly what Logik asked us to do over the weekend, make a donation to the M.S. Society in her name, Carol A. Piper. Their phone number is (412)261-6347 9-5EST M-F. Please ring their phone off the hook and donate in her name. We can make a difference in this world for someone that really needs our help......
R.I.P. Mrs. Piper, I'm sure you're in a better place now and keeping an loving eye out for your family... any maybe even the rest of us if we were so lucky.
Thanks
